Chennai: A sharp fall in the landings at Kasimedu fishing harbour more than two weeks before the annual fishing ban that starts on April 15 has left seafood prices soaring across the city.The usually bustling harbour looked deserted on Monday, with mechanized and deep-sea boats docked en masse. Boat owners blamed a seasonal drop in catch and a severe shortage of commercial gas cylinders, now costing around 7,000 each. Deep-sea fishing boat owners’ association secretary B Muthukumar said there are more than 1,000 boats in the harbour, but few have sailed recently. “For every deep-sea voyage that lasts for more than 15 days, fishermen take at least three cylinders. At these prices, cylinders are unviable for many,” he said.Traders reported scant arrivals of staples such as seer fish (vanjiram), black pomfret (karuppu vaaval), sankara and karva. K B Thirumal, a fish trader, said that sardines (mathi), seela, anchovies (nethili) and squid, which typically arrive in large quantities over weekends, have become scarce. “There is a good demand for these varieties, but these have hardly reached the market,” he said.The shortage has hit Chintadripet market too, pushing prices up. This market will receive fish from Kerala during the fishing ban period, vendors said. Fisheries dept officials attributed the decline to the customary pre-ban lull, a trend observed every year as fishermen reduce activity before the two-month restriction period. The price is likely to remain high until operations resume in mid-June, they said.
